For most of us, earning $4.9 million would be good enough to warrant a few days off at the end of the year. Dan “jungleman12” Cates, however, isn’t most of us.
Rather than laying low as the hours ticked away toward 2011, Cates put together one of his most successful nights of the year. In a marathon 1,172 hands of heads-up $300/$600 Mixed HA, the young pro took home an additional $502,000.
At the outset of play, Cates found himself down by close to $250k against luckexpress10 and Patrik Antonius. His efforts paid off in the end nonetheless, catapulting him even further up the winner’s board. Already the year’s biggest winner at $4.9 million, jungleman12’s latest spike sent him through the $5 million barrier and into the new year.
Though unquestionably impressive, this is far from the largest annual cash in online history. Phil Ivey landed $7.3 million in 2008, and his recent target, Patrik Antonius, hauled in a massive $8.9 million last year. Still, who’s going to say no to more than $5 mil?
Other big earners this year included Andreas “skjervoy” Torbergsen with $3.7 million, Tom “durrrr” Dwan with $3.6 million, Phil Ivey with an even $3 million, and harrington25 with $2.2 million.
Another player who posted impressive gains last night was Gus Hansen. The Great Dane was, by the midpoint of this year, the favorite to wind up as the biggest loser of 2010. His strong play in recent months, however, has brought him back into respectability. Including the $149k he earned a few nights back, his yearly losses fell to only $1.6 million.